Method and machine for treating felts



Nov. 11 1924.

E. J. WILSON METHOD AND MACHINE FOR TREATING FELTS Filed March 20, 1922 Patented Nov. 11, 1924 recs.

EZEKIEL J. WILSON, 01? EAST en annensn. NEW YORK, assienoa TO 3. c. I-IUYCK & sons, or nnnssanena, NEW roan, A oonrona rron or new Yuan.

METHOD AND MACHINE FOB TBJEATING FELTS.

Application filed March 20, 1922. Serial No. 545,262.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EZEKIEL J. VVILsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Greenbush, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Machines for Treating Felts and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Theinvention relates; to a method of treating felts such as are used in paper machines, and to a machine for subjecting felts to such treatment.

In manufacturing-felts for paper machines the felts after being fabricated. and fulled are subjected to a stretching and drying operationby which the felt is brought to the finished length requisite for its subsequent use. During. its subsequent use me paper machine the felt in a wet condition is operated under heavy tension and its value and efficiency is dependent upon its capacity to, continue; taut and under this heavy tension without requiring frequent or excessiye. adjustment of the tension rolls of the machine and the consequent reduction in the quality or quantity of production. It isof vital importance, therefore, to the proper operation of the felt when put to its intended use that the tension to which it is subjected during the stretching and drying should be sufliciently in excess of that to which it will be subjected in the paper machine to insure its successfully resisting: the heavy stretching tension under which it operates. It is likewise importantthat the tension applied to. the felt in the stretching and drying operation should be well within that which the felt is designed to withstand as otherwise the felt may be permanently strained or rendered defectivealthough the defect may become apparent only under the conditions of subsequent use. p

The present .inventioninsures the production of felts which have uniformly been fabricated and treated to satisfactorily and etfioiently meetthe conditions under which they areto be used and this is accomplished by subjecting the fulled felt to. a me shred tension stretching it to. its finiehedflength during the drying and finishing operation. If, 1n. stretching and drying a felt, the

measured tension to which it is beingsubfor meeting the operating requirements of the felt, it may be discarded or it may be l e-treated and again dried and stretched to length under a measured tension which is appropriate to the use for which the felt is designed and well below that whichthe felt is designed to withstand. The production of felts which have uniformly been properly fabricated and; treated to properly meet the requirements of their subsequent use is thus insured or rendered practicable. This enables the manufacturer to put upon the market a standardized product which can be relied upon to stand up and efiiciently effect its function in the paper machine under all normal operation conditions.

This is not only of great practical importance and value to the manufacturer offelts but is also of equal importance, to. the user of the felts. since it avoids the expenseand loss of production incident to the use of a felt which has not been properly fabricated and treated.

In manufacturing felts by the method. of the present invention the felt fabricated by weaving or by weaving and splicing in such manner that an. endless web is formed which is considerably longer than the length, which the finished felt is to have. The, felt is then fulled to a length considerably less than its finished length and is then stretched to a predetermined finished length under a measured tension while being dried and finished. The stretching to a predetermined length under measured tension during the drying and finishing may be effected in an eflicient manner by mechanism which also forms a part of the invention. A preferred form of this mechanism is embodied in the felt drying machine to which reference will be made in the further description of the invention.

r This machine is shown the; accompanying, drawings in which 1 is a side elevation showing; so much? of the machine as is necessary to illustrate presentiiiiveti tion, and Fig. 2 is a detailed plan view of the tension measuring links through which the take-up or tensioning roll isoperated.

After the felt has been fabricated and failed in the manner above described it is taken to the drying machine indicated inthe drawings where it is subjected to a measured tension in stretching it to finished length during the drying. ed comprises a heated drying cylinder 2 which is mounted and driven in the usual manner and a take-up or tensioning roll 4 over which the felt 6 passes and by movement of which the damp and unfinished felt is stretched to its final length. The take up roll is mounted in bearing blocks 8 arranged at opposite ends of the roll and supported and guided on the fore and aft guide bars 10.

The mechanism for operating the take-up roll to subject the felt to a measured tension in stretching it to finished length during the drying comprises two blocks 12 mounted for movement on the guide bars 10 and connected with the bearing blocks 8 by tension measuring links 14 through which the felt stretching pull is applied to the take-up roll. As shown each tension measuring link comprises an elipticalshaped loop, one end of which engages a pin 16 on the bearing block 8 and the otherend of which engages a pin 18 on the block 12. When the blocks 12 are actuated to draw the bearing blocks 8 and take up roll forcibly away from the drying drum 2 and thus stretch the felt, the pull which is transmitted through the links 14, causes the opposite sides of each link to be drawn toward each other, the relative movement between the sides being proportional to the pull transmitted through the link. This pull is measured and indicated in pounds by pointers 20 and 22 which are caused to move over a calibrated scale 24 by the relative movement between the sides of the link. The scale 24 is formed on a plate 26 secured to one of the sides of the link and the pointer 20 is carried by a shaft 28 mounted on the plate and provided with a pinion engaging a rack 30 secured to the opposite side of the link. The pointer 22 is so connected to the shaft 28 that it will move with the pointer 20 as the sides oft-he link gradually contract or approach each other-under an increasing pull applied thereto but will be unaffected by the return movementof the sides of the link which moves the pointer 20 in a reverse direction. The pointers 22 will, therefore, measure and indicate in pounds the maximum pull which has been transmitted through the links in actlng upon anyfelt, while the pointer, 20 will measure and indicate inpounds at the end of the drying operation the tension under'which the drying of the felt is completed.

The machine illustrat= Any suitable mechanism may be utilized for moving the blocks 12 along the guide bars 10 to operate the take-up roll. As indicated the blocks are moved on the guide bars by pinions carried on. a transverse shaft 34 and engaging racks 36 on the guide bars. The shaft is provided with a worm wheel 38 which is engaged by a worm 40 on a shaft 42 driven from a reversible electric motor 44. The motor may be started, stopped or reversed by the operator and the worm and worm wheel act to lock the blocks 12 and take-up roll 4 in any position into which they are moved by the power transmitted from the motor. The motor and driving connections may be mounted on a carriage provided with bearings engaging the shaft 34 so that the carriage will travel with the shaft.

In the use of the machine the damp fulled felt is applied to the drying cylinder and take-up roll, and the roll is then drawn' away from the cylinder to stretch the felt as it travels over the cylinder, and roll, the felt being stretched to a pre-determined length before it is completely dried and finished. As the stretching of the felt progresses the pointers on the tension measuring links through which the pull is transmitted to the take-up roll measure and indicate to the operator the tension which is being applied to the felt. After the felt has been stretched to the required length the drying is completed with. the take-up roll in this position and theftension on the felt, if it has been properly fabricated and treated, should be somewhat less at the completion of the drying and finishing operation than the maximum tension required to stretch the damp or partially dried felt to its finished length. The pointer 20 at the completion of the drying and finishing will indicate the tension on the felt at this point in the operation, while the pointer 22 will indicate the maximum tensionto which the damp or partiallydried felt was subjected in stretching it to the required length. The tension or strain under which each felt is brought to finished length while still damp and which it is adapted to withstand without material stretching when subsequently put in use in a paper machine is thus measured by the machine so that the production of felts which may be depended on to operate in a uniform and eflicient manner is rendered practicable. The extent to which the tension is relieved by the final drying of the felt is also indicated and this as well as the maximum tension may be recorded for future reference as occasion may require.

What is claimed is: V q

1. In the making of felts for paper making machines by the method which includes fabricating the felt. in the form of an endless web having a length materially greater than the finished felt, fulling the felt to a length materially less than the finished felt and drying and stretching the fulled felt to the finished length; the method of testing the felt, by measuring the tension applied thereto during the stretching and drying.

2. In. the making of felts for paper making machines by the method Which includes drying the damp fulled endless felt and stretching it to a pre-determined length before the drying is completed; the method of testing the felt by measuring the tension applied thereto during the stretching and 15 drying and indicating the maximum tension applied during the stretching and drying and also the tension applied at the completion of the drying.

3v In a machine for drying and stretching to its finished length a felt for paper making machines which has been fulled to a materially less length, the combination with the drying cylinder, take-up roll and mechanism for drawing the roll away from the cylinder, of tension measuring links connecting said mechanism with said take-up roll, and means acting during the stretching and drying to indicate the pull transmitted through each link to the take-up roll.

EZEKIEL J. WILSON. 

